Tag Archives: White House

Musk Watch: Musk promised budget cuts. He delivered a panopticon.

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The Department of Government Efficiency, the secretive White House initiative founded by Elon Musk, was sold to the American public under the guise of cost-cutting. In this regard it has failed. After more than 110 days of austerity theater, DOGE has shaved just a few billion dollars from annual federal spending. Musk, who is poised to “significantly” reduce his involvement in the project, had promised $2 trillion.

DOGE has had much more success expanding the executive branch’s domestic surveillance capacity.

Citing whistleblower complaints, Rep. Gerald Connolly divulged last month that DOGE is building a “master database,” a single exhaustive repository containing personal data held by numerous federal agencies, including the IRS, the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Health and Human Services.

“The DOGE team is reportedly engaged in an unprecedented effort to build a massive database using data from SSA and across the federal government,” the Democratic lawmaker wrote in a letter to the SSA Office of the Inspector General.

Efforts to build the database are part of a Trump executive order dictating the elimination of the federal government’s “information silos.” In signing the executive order in March, Trump tied it to DOGE’s nominal mission of “stopping waste, fraud, and abuse.”

But in action, amalgamating federal data is part of the White House’s push to deport and intimidate undocumented immigrants, including by falsifying SSA death records to prevent undocumented immigrants from accessing housing and banking services. DOGE employees are also using data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to remove undocumented immigrants from housing, even if they are living with family members who are legal residents.

The DOGE master database is being built and housed at the Department of Homeland Security and includes the use of biometric data to track immigrants, according to Wired. “They are already cross-referencing immigration [data] with SSA and IRS as well as voter data,” one DHS official told the outlet. FedScoop reported last week that members of DOGE have been spotted at a DHS border security office that houses fingerprint, facial, and iris records.

China would be so proud!

Musk promised budget cuts. He delivered a panopticon.
The Department of Government Efficiency, the secretive White House initiative founded by Elon Musk, was sold to the American public under the guise of cost-cutting.

https://www.muskwatch.com/p/musk-promised-budget-cuts-he-delivered

New York Times: With Trump Visit, Qatar’s Image Makeover Scores Another Success

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The emirate, once called “a funder of terrorism” by President Trump, has spent lavishly on overhauling its global reputation.

The president, who has described the emir as a “great gentleman” and a “friend of mine,” is granting Qatar the honor of hosting one of the first foreign visits of his second term. As for the plane, the president says he would be “stupid” not to accept such a nice gift despite loud objections, not only from Democrats but from some of his most fervent MAGA supporters.

It is a dramatic turnaround for a small Persian Gulf country that Mr. Trump derided eight years ago as “a funder of terrorism at a very high level.” At that time, he cooperated with Qatar’s bitter rivals in the region — who imposed a punishing blockade on Doha — in calling for an end to what he described as the country’s “extremist ideology.”

Impeach! Impeach! Impeach!

https://archive.is/5Xbf6#selection-727.0-738.0

New York Times: Trump Installs Top Justice Dept. Official at Library of Congress, Prompting a Standoff

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The president named Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, as the acting librarian. But staff members refused access to two department officials he chose for key roles at Congress’s main research arm.

President Trump on Monday named the No. 2 official at the Justice Department and his former personal lawyer to serve as the acting librarian of Congress, initiating a shake-up at the main research library of the legislative branch that prompted an instant revolt among the staff.

Mr. Trump named Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general who was his lead defense lawyer in his criminal trial in Manhattan last year, to take over from Carla Hayden, the librarian of Congress whom the president abruptly fired late last week.

But staff members at the Library of Congress pushed back, insisting that Congress must have input and refusing to give two other top Justice Department officials whom Mr. Blanche chose for senior positions there access to the agency’s headquarters on Capitol Hill, according to two people familiar with the situation.

The lockout led to a brief standoff across from the Capitol and became the latest flashpoint in a battle over where Congress’s authority ends and the White House’s begins.

trump-library-of-congress.html

Esquire: The White House Just Casually Floated a Move That Would Be Traitorous to the Very Idea of America

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Despite what Trump advisor Stephen “Goebbels” Miller may believe, habeas corpus is a core legal right—not a revocable privilege.

The Constitution is clear and that, of course, is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus could be suspended in time of invasion,” said Stephen “Goebbels” Miller, White House aide, and now a confirmed traitor to the American idea. “So that’s an option we’re actively looking at.”

Unless every other elected official in this country stands up against even the consideration of this extremist pipe dream, there is no point of being a citizen of this country any more. It would be as empty a title as that of the sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Despite whatever is rattling around Miller’s febrile cabeza, habeas corpus is not a revocable privilege. It is a right guaranteed to everyone incarcerated. In calling it a “privilege” that “could be suspended” to suit the whims of his boss, “Goebbels” Miller proves himself to be a traitor not only to the American idea but also to the freaking Magna Carta (!), the 39th clause of which states, “No free man shall be seized or imprisoned … except by the lawful judgment of his equals and by the law of the land.” “Goebbels” Miller is proposing to reverse all English-speaking jurisprudence since 1215. I think if you find yourself on the wrong side of human rights from John Lackland, it’s time for us to be quite done with you.

The White House Just Casually Floated a Move That Would Be Traitorous to the Very Idea of America
Despite what Trump advisor Stephen Miller may believe, habeas corpus is a core legal right—not a revocable privilege.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a64745130/stephen-miller-trump-habeas-corpus

NBC News: Trump admin’s threat to suspend core U.S. legal right sparks outcry, alarm

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Stephen “Goebbels” Miller said the president is “actively looking at” suspending the right for people to see a judge if detained in the U.S. Legal scholars say that Congress, not Trump, has that power.

Legal experts and Democrats expressed growing alarm over the weekend that Trump administration officials are openly discussing unilaterally suspending habeas corpus — a bedrock American legal right — without the approval of Congress.

The writ of habeas corpus, which dates back centuries, grants anyone detained in the U.S. the right to see a judge, challenge the government’s evidence against them and present a defense.

But White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen “Goebbels” Miller downplayed its significance on Friday and suggesting that the administration could move to suspend it unilaterally. “That’s an option we’re actively looking at,” “Goebbels” Miller told reporters at the White House.

Trump admin’s threat to suspend core U.S. legal right sparks outcry and alarm
Stephen Miller said the president is “actively looking at” suspending the right for people to see a judge if detained in the U.S. Legal scholars say that Congress, not Trump, has that power.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/legal-experts-habeas-corpus-stephen-miller-rcna206130

Associated Press: Trump administration fires top copyright official days after firing Librarian of Congress

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The Trump administration has fired the nation’s top copyright official, Shira Perlmutter, days after abruptly terminating the head of the Library of Congress, which oversees the U.S. Copyright Office.

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Perlmutter’s office recently released a report examining whether artificial intelligence companies can use copyrighted materials to “train” their AI systems and then compete in the same market as the human-made works they were trained on.

The report, the third part of a lengthy AI study, follows a review that Perlmutter began in 2023 with opinions from thousands of people including AI developers, actors and country singers.

In January, the office clarified its approach as one based on the “centrality of human creativity” in authoring a work that warrants copyright protections. The office receives about half a million copyright applications per year covering millions of creative works.

“Where that creativity is expressed through the use of AI systems, it continues to enjoy protection,” Perlmutter said in January. “Extending protection to material whose expressive elements are determined by a machine … would undermine rather than further the constitutional goals of copyright.”

Trump administration fires top copyright official days after firing Librarian of Congress
The Trump administration has fired the nation’s top copyright official, Shira Perlmutter. The move comes days after the abrupt termination of the head of the Library of Congress, which oversees the U.S.

https://apnews.com/article/copyright-director-firing-government-trump-7ab99992a96131bce7de853b66feec68

Trump fires Copyright Office director after report raises questions about AI training | TechCrunch
President Donald Trump has fired Shira Perlmutter, who leads the U.S. Copyright Office. The firing was reported by CBS News and Politico, and seemingly

Reuters: Judge orders temporary halt to Trump administration’s government overhaul

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President Donald Trump’s administration must temporarily halt its sweeping government overhaul because Congress did not authorize it to carry out large-scale staffing cuts and the restructuring of agencies, a federal judge said on Friday.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco sided with a group of unions, non-profits and local governments, and blocked large-scale mass layoffs known as “reductions in force” for 14 days.

“As history demonstrates, the President may broadly restructure federal agencies only when authorized by Congress,” said Illston.

Judge orders temporary halt to Trump administration’s government overhaul
Dozens of lawsuits have challenged DOGE’s work on various grounds including violating privacy laws and exceeding its authority, with mixed results. This ruling is one of the broadest yet.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/judge-orders-temporary-halt-trump-administrations-mass-layoff-plans-2025-05-10

National Security Journal: ‘Walls Closing in on Trump’: Trying to ‘Avoid Suffering Through Dozens of New Investigations’

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Politico reported over the weekend that the president is “already obsessed” about the midterm elections.

While he was less concerned about the midterms in the first half of his first term, Trump is now “already hyper-engaged in the fight to keep the GOP’s majorities in Congress.”

The story, citing “five Republicans… including several close Trump confidants,” said that Trump has hopes of hanging onto his majorities, especially to keep committee gavels and the attached subpoena power out of the hands of Democrats starting in 2027.

‘Walls Closing in on Trump’: Trying to ‘Avoid Suffering Through Dozens of New Investigations’
According to a new report, Trump is concerned about the possibility of further investigations in the next Congress.
‘Walls Closing in on Trump’: Trying to ‘Avoid Suffering Through Dozens of New Investigations’

Alternet: Donald Trump just can’t resist the bribes | Opinion

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But one thing almost all Americans are firmly against — even many loyal Trumpers — [i]s bribery. And Trump is taking bigger and bigger bribes.

Yesterday it was reported that he’s accepting a luxury Boeing 747-8 plane worth at least $400 million from the Qatari royal family, for use during his presidency and for his personal use afterward.

Trump just can’t resist. He’s been salivating over the plane for months. It’s bigger and newer than Air Force One — and so opulently configured that it’s known as “a flying palace.” (No report on whether it contains a golden toilet.)

Apparently he’s been talking about the plane for months. In February, he toured it while it was parked at Palm Beach International Airport.

He’s tried to redecorate the White House into a palace but that’s not nearly as satisfying as flying around the world in one, especially once he’s left the White House (assuming he will).

https://www.alternet.org/donald-trump-just-can-t-resist-the-bribes

Raw Story: ‘Deal is a whiff’: Onlookers blast Trump for ‘wild lies’ about his major announcement

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Donald Trump on Sunday made an announcement on prescription drug price controls, resulting in mockery and backlash online.

Trump on Sunday took to his own social media site, Truth Social, and announced what he called “one of the most consequential orders in our country’s history.” It was a price control plan for prescriptions.

Problem is, King Donald has absolutely no authority to tell pharmaceutical firms how much to charge for their products.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-deal-wild-lies-drugs